Who needs a HUMMER when we have the absolutely insane $7.9 million Dartz Prombron Black Dragon Special Edition? Well, “we” will only have it if “we” all move to China. Dartz, the Estonian maker of the world’s most expensive and most whacko 4×4, celebrates the Chinese year of the dragon with this special edition craziness. Only 12 will be made for 50 million yuan each, and they will only be available in China, where they undoubtedly will be snapped-up in no time at all. Read More >
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Category: China
Some interesting news on the Rare Earth front, courtesy of our friends at The Atlantic and Slashdot.
The new Lexus corporate face will be appearing on the newest Lexus ES – a startling trend for a vehicle so conservative it makes Mitt Romney look like a chaps-wearing “lifestyle” devotee.
Everybody in the business knows that the BYD S6 SUV is a blatant copy of the last generation Lexus RX350 SUV. The rip-off is so blatant that BYD even registered a European patent for their carbon copy. If you don’t look close enough, pretty much the only parts that differ are the grille and some BYD badges. Mei wen ti! No problem! Read More >
What do you do if you want your very own yellow Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster, but you can’t afford it? No problem, said a man in China, I just build my own. Read More >
PSA Peugeot Citroen will have to delay its plans to sell imported Citroen DS models in China, the Shanghai Securities News said today. According to the paper, Citroen’s existing dealers in China balk at the high cost of building new outlets, which Citroen wants to be located near other luxury brands, such as Infiniti or Jaguar and Land Rover.
Hours later, Reuters reached a PSA spokesperson that had been in hiding earlier in the day. Read More >
Beijing Auto is working on a new BJ80V4x4. The old one was based on the Beijing-Jeep Cherokee. In a legit way: The Cherokee was brought in by the joint venture with AMC and later Chrysler. After that fell apart, Chrysler left the tooling behind in Beijing. The new B80V seems to be heavily inspired by yet another 4×4 classic: Read More >
Volkswagen’s double digit growth rates came to a grinding halt in January with the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand reporting what Volkswagen euphemistically calls “robust delivery figures:” Worldwide, Volkswagen handed over a mere 600 cars more in January 2012 than the 418,600 units it had sold in January 2011, for a teensy rise of 0.1 percent. Basically, Volkswagen is treading water. Why? China. Read More >
The driver of this Chinese delivery van deemed the price of a cheap Chinese replacement mirror as much too high: “What, it will last only one day anyway – the next passing car will take it right off .” Therefore, a low cost field expedient was found, as Carnewschina reports.
Back home in Germany, Volkswagen is dragging its heels when it comes to EVs, in China, VW is all for the electrification. Both of Volkswagen’s joint ventures in China plan to start making electric cars in 2014, its China chief told Reuters today. Read More >
Despite the fact that the Chinese new car market barely grew last year, and ignoring commentators that predict a flat market for this year also, GM has expansionist plans for the region. According to Bloomberg, GM should shortly receive approval to build a $1.1 billion factory in China, which will expand GM China’s annual capacity by 300,000 units. Read More >
Have a quick look at this screenshot. Scan it as quickly as you scan other news from China. Now picture scanning it under as much time pressure an average news editor is under. That’s what this is for, it is GM China’s site for journalists. Wouldn’t you think that GM China’s January sales were absolutely marvelous?
Well, it’s not true. Read More >
New car sales in China imploded in January. This will be the message when the official data by the CAAM are announced. Which should happen any minute.
The signs are ominous: Yesterday, GM China, TTAC’s in-house leading indicator, announced (in a way) that sales in January had been down by 8 percent. Then, China’s largest carmaker SAIC said that its January was down 8.5 percent. Today, the China Passenger Car Association told China Daily that the car market in China had nosedived16.5 percent from a year earlier to 1.17 million units in January. Late in the afternoon in Yokohama at Nissan’s quarterly earnings conference, Nissan’s Corporate Vice President, Joji Tagawa proudly pronounced that Nissan sales “declined only 16 percent” in China, while the Chinese car market as a whole registered “a negative 28 percent,” and isn’t that wonderful?
Whoa!!!! What’s going on?
Is the sky over China finally falling? It sure looks like it. Read More >
I assume the Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton law firm that handles Chrysler’s trademark litigation is already on its way to China. If not, they will be calling the travel agent after reading this.
What do you think would happen if Chrysler would license its Jeep brand to a beer? It appears as if Chrysler did just that in China. Read More >
How do you say “grace, pace and space” in Mandarin? Jaguar Land Rover is apparently partnering with Chinese automaker Chery to build cars in China. While an announcement wont come until April’s Beijing Auto Show, the two companies have applied for permission from China’s regulators.
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